Software product offerings can require the ability to package and re-package software products to fit customer requirements. Loosely-coupled software systems can be disconnected and re-formed into new product lines. Re-packaging code has become an easier and more modular process. Software product documentation continues to pose a high degree of cost and overhead for re-packaging. This issue will only grow worse as companies move to component-based software and mobile or fluid software components.
In addition, complex software often integrates third-party tools. It is desired to lower the barriers to integration including the integration of product information. Added to the mix is the need to support organizations developing software and documentation at multiple globe-spanning locations.
Software vendors have traditionally provided vehicles for product information that either support ease-of-access or dynamic information delivery. They tend to be either very tightly-coupled systems such as context-sensitive help or extremely loosely-coupled systems such as printed books or our server-based documentation offerings. When software technologies undergo a shift, they are sometimes followed by a shift in the delivery system for supporting product information. Printed books gave way to online-CDs; CDs gave way to HTML and Internet browsers.